Great products don't fail on ideas. They fail on execution.
I'm Nikolas — a fractional Product & Go-to-Market executive. Products fail between strategy and execution — exactly where I step in to catalyze success. When you can't yet justify (or find) a full-time CPO or CCO, I join hands-on, a few days a week, bringing 20+ years of building products and markets — from Philips OneBlade to Solplanet to the ventures I work with today.
There is no miracle, but persistent curiosity, creativity and hard work — fueled by an engaging, positive personality and know-how.
Sound familiar?
Three situations where a fractional executive changes the game.
You're a founder doing three executive jobs. I take two of them off your plate — product and commercial leadership — until you're ready to hire full-time.
You're an SME leader with a new product, market or brand to launch, and no in-house muscle for it. I build it with you, from positioning to distribution.
You need someone who has shipped breakthrough products inside a large organisation — and knows how to navigate one from within.
"I listen carefully, talk with you honestly — and get to work!"
No miracle: persistent curiosity, creativity and hard work, plus an engaging, positive personality and two decades of know-how in strategy, breakthrough innovation and commercialisation.
I work in English, but am happy to speak Swedish, German and Italian — and I understand Dutch. It helps, because a lot of my work is about getting people aligned and moving.
Three ways to start
Advice & Strategy
A sharp outside view and an execution roadmap. Start small; know where you stand in weeks, not quarters.
Workshops & Plans
Bespoke workshops that get your team aligned and moving — you walk out with a concrete action plan, not a poster.
Execution & Scale-up
I embed as your fractional product or commercial executive and deliver alongside your team, hands-on, until it works.
Most clients start with 1 or 2 — and continue with 3.
Every engagement is tailored to you — combining best-in-class methods from Design Thinking, Systems Engineering, Lean Six Sigma, Agile and more, under one principle.
Products & markets I've helped build
Philips OneBlade
Breakthrough innovation inside a global corporate — part of the team that took OneBlade from concept to shelf.
Solplanet
Created the brand and a Red Dot-awarded product for a global inverter manufacturer; led go-to-market across 15 European countries.
Breggz
Fractional product & commercial leadership for a Dutch smart-hearables venture on its way to market.
Bondo Foundation
Building innovation infrastructure for the European ecosystem — because scaling shouldn't be this hard.
Why fractional, why me
A fractional executive gives you C-level product and go-to-market leadership without the cost, search time or commitment of a full-time hire. You get the outcomes of an executive, at the footprint of an advisor.
And because I'm independent — one senior partner, backed by a hand-picked network of freelance specialists tailored to your challenge — you get agency capability with founder-level commitment. You pay for expertise, not office space.
What it's like to work together
Verified LinkedIn recommendations — slide for more.
Steven VaassenSr Consultant Innovation Management, Philips"A hands-on innovation & transformation leader with a track record of delivering breakthrough innovations in diverse industries. His pragmatic approach, persistent nature and creative mind make him highly effective and engaging to work with."
Nicole VoetRehabilitation physician & researcher, Radboudumc"He is an expert in organizing workshops so that people experience the problems for themselves … Sometimes, I thought he wanted to take too many steps too fast, but to my great surprise, it worked. To this day, people still talk about the meetings he organized!"
Jeroen BeijerExecutive Business Leader"Nikolas is extremely skilled in making the intangible and abstract visible, concrete and actionable. His ethic of always going the extra mile and ability to connect to a wide network makes him add value in a wide array of settings."
Thomas van den BoezemProgram Director, StartLife"Nikolas is always fully booked as coach or a.i. commercial lead, and his work with a variety of startups has had proven success in helping them grow and raise funding. I can definitely recommend him as advisor or hands-on executive at any startup or scale-up."
Anne-Cécile RagainDirector, La Lucarne impact incubator"A leader with a vision, tons of energy & enthusiasm, and a passion for innovation — especially CUSTOMER focused innovation … He has this rare capacity to understand tech details and the bigger business picture."
Rebeca SáLead Product Designer — ex-Uber, Philips, frog"A go-getter, determined to succeed, Nikolas is a rare leader and persuasive entrepreneur in the corporate environment … he brings a great deal of enthusiasm, passion and a positive attitude that makes work more fun."
Saher SidhomCEO, Hackmasters"With his unique expertise and personality he adds tremendous value to our network of diverse C-level experts and masters — a selected Master in the Top 100 Hackmasters."
full quotes on LinkedIn →
Together we can make our world a better place — one great product at a time.
Let's talk. A first call costs nothing and usually helps.
Schedule an intro callOr just email me: Nikolas@innovationcatalyzer.com